Great review batfan!
Now you need to change your username to "capfan"
Honestly, this is perhaps one of the strongest Marvel studios movies to date. It was intense, interesting and in my opinion, did a good job of interweaving some characterization in-between the action sequences. Perhaps one of the strongest points of the film was the DIALOGUE. Previous reviews have pointed it out and for a comic book movie, it's sharp and well-done with excellent moments of humor and wit. While I love "The Avengers", some of the dialogue was corny and too forced "comic-booky" ("I have red in my ledger"...), none of that here, "The Winter Soldier" grounds it with a hint of realism and strong performances by the entire cast.
batfan pretty much nailed it with his character descriptions, but I wanted to touch on one thing. This is a Ed Brubaker/Steve Epting CAPTAIN AMERICA comic come to life. You can see their work has strongly influenced this movie (with nothing stronger than "The Winter Soldier" character himself, who was "created" by those two) and if you've been a fan of their work on previous "Captain America" comics, you'll love this movie.
Another thing is that Marvel has slowly groomed the audience to become more comfortable with their futuristic "pseudo-technological advance" modern society. Any fan of Marvel will know that objects like Helicarriers, Holographic communications/disguises, Hovering Quinjets, cyborg arms, etc. etc. are a "normal" thing in the everyday Marvel Universe. In movies however, to just throw them in there would be a shock to the audience in my opinion. However, over the course of the movies they have slowly introduced that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a highly technical world which is still grounded with some reality. The excess of helicarriers and quinjets here did not strike me as strange at all and neither did the large presence of SHIELD in the world thanks to Marvel's nurturing hand of this technology and organizations over the course of several movies. This goes back to comments I've seen before that part of Marvel studios own movie success is they have fully "embraced" the comic book roots and try not to stray far too much into the dimension of realism (like "The Dark Knight" trilogy).
Future Predictions:
I think they are going to do the "Death of Captain America" storyline. They dropped several hints here and there and combining that with the backstage news we've heard, it seems evident.
-Agent Sharon Carter joining the CIA and making perfect shots. She is the one that "shoots" Cap in the story while under hypnosis. I really wish we saw more of her, but perhaps we will in the sequel as she is a VERY prominent supporting cast member/love interest in the Captain America comics.
-Brock Rumlow surviving, albeit scarred and wounded heavily. For those who don't know, though he is a SHIELD Strike team member in the movie, Brock Rumlow is actually a HUGE Captain America villain in the comics known as "Crossbones". He is a recurring associate of the Red Skull and is actually is the one who "kills" Cap in the storyline. He could very well adapt the "Crossbones" moniker in the next film and work alongside the villains to seek revenge.
-Arnim Zola surviving in computer form. Similar to the comics, Zola "lives" to the modern era from WW2 by putting his consciousness into a computer (robot body in the comics). If he survived, perhaps the Red Skull did in a way too?...At least his consciousness could...much like he had in the comics using the Cosmic cube. Red Skull is the main architect behind the "Death of Captain America" and he sort of "dissolves" in The First Avenger, leaving the potential that he isn't really dead and merely "ascended" in a way to pave for his potential return. Another potential villain is Skull's daughter, Sin.
-Sebastian Stan has revealed he has signed a 9-picture deal with Marvel studios and Chris Evans wraps up his Marvel contract (six pictures) after the Avengers 3 (with his last two FULL films before that being Avengers 2 & Captain America 3). This effectively lends HUGE implications that Marvel wants to go with the "Bucky Cap" route that they have in the comics. Assuming Rogers doesn't "bite the dust" in Cap 3 or Avengers 3, it's likely he could be paid nicely to have a large "supporting role" in Captain America 4 which might allow him to "pass the torch". Evans has also said he wants to "retire from acting and start directing" after he is done with his Marvel movies.
Spoiler: 
happening.
